Survival Three Kingdoms

Chapter 207 Check and Balance
"Zhou Cang has already acquired Tancheng, and the lord has tacitly agreed to give it to him. But Pengcheng and Xiapi must not be surrendered to him. In this way, Zhou Cang can only control the three counties of Langya, Donghai, Guangling and Lujiang in Xuzhou. The jurisdiction area is narrow and long, and it is suitable to attack It is difficult to defend, even if he is ambitious, he dare not act rashly. The fertile land of Xiapi and Pengcheng can supplement our army's lack of food and grass."

Cao Cao thought about it carefully, and Cheng Yu's statement was not unreasonable. Zhou Cang did not have great achievements in the war. He won Donghai County and Lujiang. What should I do if I don't work hard?
Seeing that Cao Cao was still hesitating, Cheng Yu said, "Zhou Cang should be satisfied with getting the land of the four counties. If he thinks extravagantly, he is not greedy enough."

While the two were talking, Zhang Liao came back and reported to Cao Cao how he had persuaded Guan Yu.

"Wen Yuan, Guan Yu still wants to find Liu Bei? Then what's the use of keeping him?" Cao Cao asked unhappy, "Could it be that you want to make fun of me!"

Zhang Liao had already prepared his speech, "My lord, Liu Bei's life or death is unknown now. If Liu Bei can be killed, or Liu Bei disappears, then Guan Yu will naturally not go looking for Liu Bei again." Kill Liu Bei.

"Even if Liu Bei escapes by chance, if the lord treats Guan Yu better than Liu Bei treats him, and people are not grass and trees, no one can be ruthless. After a long time, Guan Yu will gradually forget Liu Bei. He is grateful for the kindness of the lord, and he will stay and serve the lord wholeheartedly." Zhang Liao again Letting go of the responsibility depends on what you Cao Cao does and whether you can impress Guan Yu. "My lord, think about it, what can Liu Bei give Guan Yu from his background as a weaving mat and shoes? Name, official position, and wealth are all here, my lord."

Cao Cao nodded straightly, yes, what does Liu Bei compare with me.

"Taking a step back, since Guan Yu surrendered, the lord knows how powerful he is, so Guan Yu still abandons the lord, isn't he afraid of being ridiculed by the world?" Zhang Liao cleared his responsibility for the third time, if Guan Yu is shameless, it has nothing to do with me. "Two steps back, if Guan Yu goes to attach himself to Liu Bei again, will Liu Bei and Zhang Fei treat him the same way as before?"

However, Cao Cao didn't hear Zhang Liao's implication, and he still recognized Zhang Liao's explanations very much. He looked up to Zhang Liao in his mind. This person is not only a fierce general, but also has a future.However, Zhang Liao wanted to find a way for himself through Guan Yu and improve the status of the general in Cao's army.

He turned his head to look at Cheng Yu and Guo Jia, the two of them knew very well that the deal was done, so they kept their mouths shut tactfully.

"Well, Wen Yuan will make another trip and say that I have agreed."

Guan Yu went down the mountain to surrender, and when he saw Cao Cao, he knelt down on one knee. "Lord Sikong, the last general Guan Yu is willing to surrender."

Cao Cao originally wanted to reward high-ranking officials, but after thinking about it, it was still wrong. He was afraid that the generals would not accept him. Just like Zhang Liao's official position, he named Guan Yu Zhonglang General and Jue Guan Neihou. He took off his brocade robe and put it on Guan Yu. Ten good horses.Guan Yu also didn't strike up a conversation with Cao Cao's men, and stood aside with a knife in one hand, one hand on his hip, squinting his eyes as if no one was there.

Cao Cao ordered the whole army to rest for one night, and Zhang Liao led 5000 troops to rush down to Pi to assist Zhang Xiu in capturing Liu Bei and Zhang Fei.

At night, Cao Cao called Cheng Yu and Jia Xu into his tent, "Xuzhou is now divided into two, Zhou Cang has three counties, and I have two counties. Do you think it is better to combine them or separate them?"

Cheng Yu already knew what was going on, so he kept silent and turned his attention to Guo Jia.

Guo Jia said: "My lord, is this worried about the ownership of Xuzhou Mu? It's not that Pengcheng and Xiapi can't be given to Zhou Cang, and he needs to exchange Lujiang for it."

Cheng Yu gave a thumbs up, why didn't he think of such a good way.Cao Cao was frowning, thinking hard about how to speak to Zhou Cang.

"However, it's not the right time for us to take Lujiang. First, we need to divide our troops to garrison. Second, if Jiangdong sends troops to me, Lujiang is the place that must be attacked, so Zhou Weiguo needs to be at the front." Guo Jia changed the topic.

"Then according to the meaning of filial piety, it is to maintain the status quo now, and then exchange Xiapi and Pengcheng for Lujiang after it stabilizes?"

Guo Jia nodded slightly, "We need Zhou Cang's assistance in fighting Yuan Shao and defending against Sun Quan and Liu Biao, but we can't rely too much on it, let alone make Zhou Cang bigger."

Contain Zhou Cang?Cao Cao repeatedly weighed gains and losses, and it is necessary to contain Zhou Cang, but should we contain it now?Doing so will create a gap between Zhou Cang and himself.If Zhou Cang is contained at this time, will it weaken part of the power when he fights against Yuan Shao in the next step?

After much deliberation, Cao Cao finally made up his mind: use this to test Zhou Cang's reaction. If Zhou Cang has any dissatisfaction or changes, control Zhou Cang's power, restrict him to the existing area, and force Zhou Cang to give up Lujiang.If Zhou Cang supports himself as always, then let Zhou Cang develop himself, find an opportunity to exchange Xiapi and Pengcheng for Lujiang, and give Zhou Cang a complete Xuzhou.

"My lord." Zhou Cang returned to his camp. Zhang Shuang and Su Ping cried and bowed to the ground, unable to speak after shouting.

"It's still a bit late. It was said to be ten years." Zhou Cang pulled the two together and said, "And the three of Liu, Guan and Zhang escaped with their lives."

"It's not too late, I thought that after Liu Bei occupied Xuzhou, the two of us thought there was no hope of revenge. I didn't expect that the lord and Lu Bu drove Liu Bei out of Xuzhou, and we were already satisfied. Now Guan Yu has surrendered, Liu Bei's whereabouts are unknown, and Zhang Fei's life and death are unknown. His grievances have long since disappeared," Su Ping said.

Zhou Cang sighed, "We still haven't been able to get rid of them completely, maybe we will get together again one day..."

"If we can bring them together again, we can only say that their lives are good. Besides, we only lost a little money, and we have a bad temper in our hearts. Now that the anger is out, why bother to kill them all." Zhang Shuang said.

"Then would you like to restore your real names?"

"No need, it's fine now, it makes us remember the kindness of the lord even more, the great virtue of the lord, I will never forget it."

"That's fine." Zhou Cang comforted the two of them and called Zhou Wen over.

"Yuan Fang, now Cao Cao and I each occupy half of Xuzhou, what do you think Cao Cao will do?"

"Based on what I know about Cao Cao, Cao Cao will acquiesce in the status quo. He will neither ask for it from the lord, nor will he give Xiapi and Pengcheng to the lord. Fortunately, the lord made a decisive decision to capture Tancheng and a county."

"It seems that Cao Cao still can't trust me. If we don't acquire the land of Xuzhou, how will we develop and grow? Yuan Fang, what do you think of me giving up Lujiang? After all, Gongming and the others are alone."

"The lord is giving up Lujiang now, and Cao Cao will not accept it. He still needs the lord to station troops in Lujiang to contain Sun Ce and Liu Biao. If the lord takes the initiative to replace Pi and Pengcheng with Lujiang, I'm afraid that Cao Cao will become suspicious and suspect that the lord is going to separate the kingdom. side."

(End of this chapter)